Gutsy: Desktop Search - Anyone actually use it?

[Naatan]

Topic pretty much says it all, I personally don't use it cause all it does is give me links to other search engines or actions.

I really dont see the point unless the results are real-time..

[Lster]

I don't use it either... It's fun and useful for some I would guess.

[23meg]

Topic pretty much says it all, I personally don't use it cause all it does is give me links to other search engines or actions.

Are you talking about Meta Tracker, or Deskbar?

[Naatan]

im talking about

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/GutsyGibbon/Beta?action=AttachFile&do=get&target=deskbar-search.png

[23meg]

Right, Deskbar. I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "unless the results are real time" but the Tracker Live Search plugin (which you can enable under Deskbar's preferences) may be what you're looking for.

[Billy_McBong]

i use the Deskbar, it searches very quickly
and you can the search engines and actions off in the options

[DoctorMO]

Yes but how does is compare to spotlight? I mean it's all nice having an applet which loads up in it's own window but I miss the nice intergrated search on the menu bar feel.

[Nano Geek]

Right, Deskbar. I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "unless the results are real time" but the Tracker Live Search plugin (which you can enable under Deskbar's preferences) may be what you're looking for.I think he means the web search links.

To answer the OP's question. No I don't use Deskbar. My files are fairly well organized and I don't have many of them. By the time I open it up, I could have already found the file my self.

[n3tfury]

i don't need something like this for the desktop. i know where i put things.

[23meg]

FYI, Deskbar isn't just for searching things; it can launch apps, run commands, launch bookmarks in your browser, switch windows etc. and actually do whatever you program it to do via custom plugins. It's Deskbar's integration with Meta Tracker that allows you to search files on your disk.

I use it a lot. A single global keyboard shortcut (Alt + F3) plus typing a few letters is often quicker and more enjoyable than mousing around to find and do simple things.

[n3tfury]

FYI, Deskbar isn't just for searching things; it can launch apps, run commands, point your browser to launch bookmarks, switch windows etc. and actually do whatever you program it to do via custom plugins. It's Deskbar's integration with Meta Tracker that allows you to search files on your disk.

I use it a lot. A single global keyboard shortcut (Alt + F3) plus typing a few letters is often quicker and more enjoyable than mousing around to find and do simple things.

i don't need to find anything so often that i need a search engine on my desktop. i alt+f2 to launch apps and use key combos or a flick of the mouse for window switching. just has no appeal to me. enjoy yours though.

[Incense]

I used deskbar all the time when I was using Gnome as an application launcher. It's pretty nice.

[pluviosity]

I use it as a front end for Tracker and to sometimes launch applications. Very convenient :)

[bapoumba]

And I also use it to find files or conf files to help other users if need be ;)

[ticopelp]

I use Beagle. All the time. I have a huge number of documents on my machine that I need to be able to find quickly.

I tried Deskbar, but Beagle is generally more suited to my needs.

[Polygon]

tracker like doesnt index my files. I let it run over night but then i tried to search for stuff and it didnt bring up half of what should of came up, so i removed it and replaced it with beagle...which actually works.

[cornel_me]

It gives me trouble too. It has a weird behaviour. It only idexes files created in the current session. If I search for anything else (even though I know it's there) it returns zero results. If I search for a file or the contents of a file I created since reboot it will find it. I think I will get read of it soon.

[vishzilla]

for desktop search, i guess the tracker will come more in handy. otherwise the deskbar is just an add-on for quick access to your bookmarks or search

[FuturePilot]

I would use it but takes up too much RAM ~20MB for Deskbar!?
I use Tracker though. I have it indexing my mess of an external hard drive:lol:

[BDNiner]

Deskbar looks cool. I just like to stay organised, so i know where everything is and don't need to search for it. Eventually when i have more data than my brain can handle i will start to use desktop search but for now, i think it is useless.

[50words]

Deskbar is phenomenal and I love it. I use it as a launcher primarily. I go through Beagle for searching documents. I use Beagle far more for finding documents based on what is in them than for finding documents themselves.

[b0ng0]

Well I don't tend to search for things on my computer that much, I know where everything is. But I guess there have been a few times where I have wanted to find a song on my pc and have had to manually search for ages to find it (the Nautilus search function is awful, it never finds anything!).

[Depressed Man]

I use beagle/tracker for tagged photos and documents, pdfs, saved html (inside). Deskbar for launching.

[tbroderick]

I just use find & grep.

[Naatan]

I guess it just depends on what kind of person you are,

I guess I myself don't really use it because, like some other have also said, I know where I leave my files.

I like the idea of having a searchbar for my manual folders though, could make it so much easier searching for specific manuals

[slimdog360]

The deskbar is useless for searching files on your hard drive. They should have beagle installed by default and use that.

[Afoot]

It's pretty nice. I haven't actually used it that much yet - there are so many new things in Gutsy - but I thought it was very odd that it popped up in its own window. Wouldn't it be better if it were like spotlight in that regard?

[Foxmike]

The deskbar is useless for searching files on your hard drive. They should have beagle installed by default and use that.
Well, I don't agree here. First, Deskbar is NOT an indexing/searching daemon, so primarly, it doesn't search for anything. It is plugin based and there is a Beagle plugin available somewhere if I remember well so you can use Beagle thru Deskbar as you can use anything else thru it if you want. As for Beagle by default, I've found it very (VERY!!) resource consuming, so I don't recommend it. It's still available if you want to use it, but there is people outthere that doesn't need such and indexing service and that doesn't want to see this resource-hungry eating their resources by default!:) I hope Traker will get more mature and will remplace Beagle someday.

[FuturePilot]

The deskbar is useless for searching files on your hard drive. They should have beagle installed by default and use that.

But you can use it as a front end to Tracker. There's loads of plugins for it.

[Depressed Man]

Anyone know if you can pass a search string towards Picasa? Tracker and Beagle says they can scan tags but only if they're from FSpot or the KDE equivilant..but my images are IPTC tagged.

[dbera]

Beagle can index IPTC tags (I am sure tracker can too).

[misfitpierce]

I use it. Finds my movies in .1 second that I want to watch... Fastest one ive ever seen. Love it on gutsy. :)

[Depressed Man]

Beagle can index IPTC tags (I am sure tracker can too).

I think I've read that it can..but using it shows a different answer sadly :(. Beagle and tracker pick up nothing in my Desktop's Feisty and Tracker picks up nothing in my Laptop's Gutsy.

[hanzomon4]

Can you tag your files with tracker without having to use the command line tracker-tag tool?

[23meg]

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=520845

[FredB]

Tracker is a very good indexer. Far less bloated than beagle, and at least, it works ;)

[slimdog360]

anyone using google desktop??????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????/

[Footissimo]

anyone using google desktop??????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????/

Yes me!

I think it's great..it's never been a resource hog and does it's once only index quickly and without taking down your computer..doesn't take any screen estate etc etc =)

[Depressed Man]

I don't mind GDS..if it wasn't for my search results being shown in a browser. *hits head on desk*